Unbearable Toothache
by IrrlandAlmondd
Summary: Merlin is scared of dentists, but the day comes when he develops a terrible toothache. Arthur and the knights find out about his toothache and fear, and they help him get through his dentist appointment and face his fear. (Not modernized) Lots of brotherly fluff! Scared Merlin! Protective knights! Protective Arthur! Dentists are kind of creepy (at first).


**Merlin Fanfiction One Shot**

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own any of these characters and make no money off this story.

 **Prompt:** So merlin is the youngest ( like about 16) and therefore fussed over even though the knights won't admit it and he's in a bit of a problem. Merlin has a really bad toothache and because he's scared that they'll have to pull it out he decides that he's going to hide it from everyone, however the knight's aren't easily fooled. They start realizing that somethings wrong with merlin and to make things worse gaius isn't there at the moment and sp they decide to take the situation to arthur. Well arthur basically decides to secretly call (whoever was a dentist in those days) and not let merlin know anything for fear he would try and hide. Said day comes and they practically drag him to arthurs chambers and all stay there to make sure merlin doesn't make a run for it. Basically in the end the tooth has to be pulled and a lot of fluff and comfort and tears and what not. Thanks so much. If possible could you add percival being used to maybe restrain him or make sure he doesn't run bc he is super strong but at the same time very comforting bc i always picture percival as this giant teddy bear and maybe a moment with leon as well, bc i feel like what i've seen so far merlin and leon don't have very many scenes together. Oh and also if you could add that at first they tease merlin trying to scare him about how painful it will be? _-anonymous_

* * *

 **Unbearable Toothache**

Merlin was terrified.

Usually he wasn't this unnerved, especially since he was always busy with chores and keeping Arthur alive during battle, but there were a few things that absolutely terrified him.

Toothaches and more specifically _dentists_.

Ever since he was young he always made sure to keep his teeth healthy and clean, so he could avoid having to go to the town dentist.

He can't imagine going through that horror.

The dentist scraping at his teeth trying to find ones that need to be excavated from his mouth. Then he hits the one that hurts, causing Merlin to flinch in pain, telling the dentist all he needs to know. Then the dentist pulls out a pair of pliers from his satchel and leans down towards his open mouth…

"MERLIN!" Merlin startles so suddenly pulled from his thoughts that Arthur's armor goes flying in different directions with a loud clang.

"Merlin? You okay buddy?" Gwaine's comforting voice reaches his ears from the open doorway.

Merlin tries to calm down his harsh breathing and the trembling of his hands, hoping his friends didn't notice his scared state. He nodded, clenching his fists, before standing up to gather the askew armor.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Leon asked as he bent down in front of Merlin, helping collect the armor.

Merlin cleared his throat, "Nothing. I was just—I was just lost in my thoughts. No worries. Was there something you lot needed?"

The latter directed at the rest of the group, of whom were all looking at him, their expressions blanketed in concern and brotherly fondness.

Gwaine stepped forward, picking up a piece by his foot, "Yes. We were just about to offer you a place at our table for lunch, if you're interested. We just thought you should have a break, since you've been working harder lately."

Merlin cast a shocked glance at Arthur to see what he thought; the man in turn rolled his eyes "You'll still have to do all your chores, but we'd appreciate it if you'd accompany us for lunch. Unless you'd rather clean…"

Merlin quickly shook his head, "No, no it's fine. Let me just put this away for later, and I'll be ready."

Small smiles grazed all of their faces. The group had become closer as of late, almost brotherly like. Merlin being the youngest of them all, always had the rest fussing over him and protecting him in a fight, even though it was common knowledge amongst them that he had no trouble taking care of himself.

Once the young warlock was finished, Gwaine threw an arm around Merlin's shoulders and the group made their way to the banquet table.

But Merlin had a problem. His tooth had been hurting increasingly more and more lately, and he didn't know how he was going to hide it from the knights and king. They all seemed to possess some secret ability to sense whenever something was amiss with him.

Maybe he could chew on the opposite side and keep the conversation flowing, hopefully they wouldn't notice. Hopefully.

* * *

It was all going smoothly, they were about halfway done with their meal when the pain became too much.

Merlin accidently bit into an apple slice that Percival had offered him, temporarily forgetting about his sensitive tooth.

Merlin cried out in pain, his hand flying up to his mouth hoping in vain to soothe his throbbing tooth.

"Merlin?!"

"Merlin, are you okay?"

"Merlin, what's wrong?"

"Summon Gauis!"

"He's out of town answering a call."

"Then summon the nearest doctor!"

Merlin held up his hand to quiet the questions and commands being thrown at him from all sides. The knights and king had gathered around him and are fluttering around him with worry.

"I'm fine. My tooth just hurts." Merlin confessed, trying to calm down everyone.

Arthur let out a sigh of relief, "Oh. That's all? I'll send for the kingdom's best dentist."

"NO! I mean—uh I'll be fine, you don't have to call a doctor or dentist or anything." Merlin gesticulated, eyes blown wide with the prospect of being forced to attend an appointment with a dentist.

Arthur rolled his eyes in exasperation, "Don't be a fool, Merlin. Send for the nearest dentist at once!" The latter he ordered a servant passing by, who obediently nodded and rushed off to do as ordered.

Merlin's face paled and his whole body tensed up, "Uhhh…I don't think—"

"Don't worry, Merlin. You'll be fine. We'll be with you the whole time!" Leon patted him on the back trying to comfort the poor boy.

"Yeah that's what worries me…" Merlin muttered under his breath.

* * *

Ever since Arthur and the kings found out about Merlin's toothache, they've been monitoring what he's been eating. They'd take away all the potentially hard foods and substitute them for soup or soft bread.

All the while, they've also been teasing him relentlessly about his nearing visit with the dentist, who's taken a few days to gather supplies and start on the journey to Camelot. They've been making jokes about the dentist poking him through the cheek, accidently taking out the wrong tooth, and the worst: the dentist using pliers to remove his tooth.

Merlin cringed and his breathing picked up at an alarmingly high rate ever time the boys joked about such things. He'd been having nightmares all week, ever since Arthur summoned for the dentist. The boys haven't seemed to notice Merlin's dislike of dentists, but they've been sharing more concerned glances with each other once they noticed the purple blooming under their little brother's eyes.

Now, today is the day the dentist is scheduled to arrive.

Merlin didn't even try to sleep the night before, as he was too scared of the things that waited to plague him in his sleep. He's tried to avoid Arthur and the knights all day, sneaking about to complete his daily chores, but somehow, he still managed to run smack into Leon.

"Why, hello Merlin! Where have you be—" Leon started.

Suddenly, they heard the shout, signaling the arrival of the dentist, and panic overtook Merlin's senses causing his knees to buckle. The world seemed to tilt and black spots danced in front of his eyes.

Strong arms engulfed his small stature, keeping him from collapsing to the ground.

"-LIN! MERLIN!" Leon's voice echoed through his ears. "Breathe. Just breathe for me. You're okay, you're going to be fine."

"ARTHUR! PERCIVAL! GWAINE! I NEED HELP OVER HERE!" Leon shouted down the hallway. It was truly terrifying to see his friend, who is more like a younger brother, hurting and scared, when he himself was helpless to do anything.

Merlin felt himself being lowered gently to the ground and his back resting on a sturdy chest. Sounds of several footsteps echoed off the stone walls, getting louder until they were replaced by the concerned voices of his friends.

"Leon, what happened? Is he okay? Merlin?!" Arthur and the other knights' panicked voices overlapped.

As his friends threw questions around above him, Merlin tried to focus on Leon's steady breathing behind him and the calming voice of Percival, who had knelt in front of him and was coaching his breathing.

"He almost fainted! I ran into him and was about to ask him where he's been recently, when he started stumbling!" Leon explained, brushing the hair away from Merlin's forehead.

"Maybe it's because he hasn't been sleeping?"

"Is he dehydrated?"

"He hasn't been eating a lot lately because of his sore tooth! That's probably what it is!"

"Wait, what happened just before he started to stumble and panic, Leon?" Gwaine's question broke through the cacophony of sounds.

Leon paused, "Well, I ran into him, then someone signaled the arrival of the dentist…ohh."

Expressions of realization crossed all of their faces and they turned their full attention on their little brother, who was turning a bright shade of red but nevertheless breathing easier than earlier.

Merlin cast his eyes down, feeling ashamed of his irrational fear. His friends were all knights (or had been) and have faced battles where they've lost fellow brothers, and yet here he was, afraid of going to the dentist. How much of a baby could he be?

His thoughts were broken, when he felt a hand lifting his chin until he was face to face with Gwaine. "Merlin. This is nothing to be ashamed of, we all have fears. You don't have to hide anything like this from us. We all care about you—I mean, you're practically our little brother!"

"We'll be with you the whole time, Merlin. We won't let him do anything to you that you aren't comfortable with, okay?" Arthur reassured.

Merlin steeled himself and nodded. "Okay. I'm sorry, I worried you guys. I just…it just got to me."

"We understand, Merlin. It's perfectly okay. Now, let's go get this over with." Leon said as Percival helped Merlin stand up.

Gwaine threw his arm around Merlin as the lot made their way to Arthur's chamber, where he'd asked the dentist to meet them.

* * *

When they got to Arthur's chamber, the dentist was already setting up his equipment on the table and preparing for Merlin.

Their warlock was slightly trembling in fear and had to be gently pushed forward by Leon into the chair by the dentist.

"Good afternoon, King Arthur. I'm Dr. Rainyard. I hope everything looks satisfactory to you. I came as soon as I could. The dentist stood up and bowed in respect.

"I appreciate you coming this quickly, Merlin's tooth has been ailing him for over a week, and I'd prefer my warlock to not be in pain." Arthur replied, nodding in respect to Dr. Rainyard.

"Well, let's have a look shall we. Merlin, I'm just going to looking at your tooth right now. Could you indicate which tooth is hurting?" The dentist asked gently, seeing Merlin's nervousness.

Merlin had his hands rung together, turning white from their tight grip. He nodded reluctantly, "It's on the right side, near the back. I think the second one in the back."

"Okay, just open your mouth and I'll have a quick look."

Merlin opened his mouth, his eyes squeezed tightly shut. He felt a hand squeeze his in support.

He felt the dentist tap on his sore tooth, and Merlin jerked back whimpering in fear.

Another hand rested the back of his neck, in an attempt to calm Merlin down.

"Ah, I see. It looks like you have a cavity. I'm going to have to take it out. ( _I figure that's what they would do in this time period_ ) I'll give you a little medicine for the pain, but that's the best I can do for you, sorry." Dr. Rainyard said regretfully as he turned away and got out his excavation tools.

Tears pooled in Merlin's eyes, fear shone blatantly on his face. "Arthur, I don't feel comfortable with this, please. I'm scared, please don't let him do this." He pleaded with his friends, who shared guilty faces.

"Merlin, he has to take your tooth out, otherwise you'll be in a lot of pain. It's for your own good. We won't leave you." Arthur reassured, patting the younger boy's shoulder.

"Here's the potion." Dr. Rainyard handed Merlin a small bottle filled with this brown liquid.

Merlin gulped before swallowing the whole potion. Maybe it'll knock him out, he hoped.

The dentist reached over and pulled out a small pair of pliers, and that was it for Merlin.

He sprung up out of his chair and bolted towards the door, before anyone could say anything. He was almost at the door, when he felt a pair of strong arms wrap around his thin waist and pull him back.

"NO! PLEASE NO! Please don't do this! I'm fine! NO, no, no, no, no—"Tears cascaded down Merlin's cheeks and weak cries exploded from his lips. His legs futilely kicked out trying to dislodge Percival's iron grip around his waist.

"Merlin, it's going to be alright. We are right here. We don't leave you. You're going to be fine." The knights tried to comfort their youngest brother, but Merlin was too scared.

"We need to do the operation fast, otherwise the potion will wear off and he'll be in a lot of pain." Dr. Rainyard softly told the group.

Percival planted himself on the bed with Merlin in his lap. The others gathered around him, each holding onto a limb and trying to sooth the warlock. By now, Merlin has stopped thrashing around, but is still quietly whimpering. The medicine having taken effect, and his numbing Merlin's body.

"It'll take me two seconds to get it out. You won't even feel a thing. Just close your eyes and count to five slowly, Merlin." The dentist ordered, keeping the pliers out of Merlin's line of sight.

Leon's hand rubbed Merlin's arm soothingly and a hand found a place in the locks of Merlin's short hair.

"We'll count back from five." Arthur ordered from Merlin's left.

The knights braced themselves and Merlin.

"Five." The dentist reached into Merlin's mouth and gripped the tooth.

"Four." He braced his fingers around the pliers.

"Three." He yanked on the tooth.

"Two." He deposited the tooth and his tool into a thick towel.

"One." He clogged the bleeding spot with a small piece of cloth.

"All done, Merlin." Dr. Rainyard congratulated the younger boy, who opened his eyes in shock.

 _He didn't even feel a thing! It's over? It's over! Thank goodness._

Percival rubbed circles into Merlin's chest, "It's all over. That wasn't so bad was it, Buddy?"

Gwaine wiped the stray tears from Merlin's red cheeks as the younger boy took calming breaths.

"I think I'll be taking my leave, King Arthur. Thank you for calling me, and please don't hesitate to do so again if you would need anything. Merlin just needs to keep a constant pressure on that tooth and change the cloth once it gets soaked through, the bleeding should only last a couple days. It'll be sore for a little while, so I'll leave a few bottles of this potion for the pain. Other than that, he seems to be in good care with you all. Thank you and good day." Dr. Rainyard bowed and then made his way out of the castle to return home.

The knights released their restricting hold on Merlin's legs and arms, patting the boy in reassurance.

"You know what this means?" Gwaine asked the group, who all looked at him in confusion.

"What?"

"We get to baby Merlin for the next week, doctor's orders." Gwaine's smile stretched across his face and cast an excited smirk Merlin's way.

The other laughed as Merlin groaned.

He was so glad that he had the most caring brothers anyone could ask for.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! Please leave comments and prompts! (I'm heavily into Riverdale, 5 Seconds of Summer, and One Direction right now)**


End file.
